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The French car market is down 2% in 1981 at 1,834,322 registrations and the Renault 5 delivers its second best year, down only 6% on an exceptional figure in 1980 at 282,486 sales and 15.4% share. In 2nd place, the Renault 18 reaches its best-ever market share at 8.6% thanks to 157,752 units sold, stable on 1980.

Renault 18

Helped by its recent facelift, the Peugeot 104 passes its big sister the 305 to climb on the third step of the podium with 100,888 sales (+6%) and 5.5% share, compared to 97,219 (-16%) and 5.3% for the 305. Good progression of the Citroen Visa, up 3 spots and 26% to #5 at 82,544 units or 4.5% of the French market. The Citroen GSA reversely is down 16% to #6. Similarly the Renault 14 is down 24% to #7 and the Renault 4 down 22% to #8.

Peugeot 104

Foreign models have a very good year: the VW Golf is up 29% and breaks into the year-end Top 10 at #9 with 60,533 sales (3.3%), the Ford Escort is up a massive 57% and 5 spots to #12 at 44.024 units and the Ford Fiesta is up 4% to stay #16 with 31,183 sales. The Opel Kadett and Fiat Ritmo break into the Top 20 this year.

Citroen 2CV

Notice also the Citroen 2CV back in the Top 10 at #10 (-2%), the big Renault 20 (#11), Peugeot 505 (#13) and Citroen CX (#14) all within the Top 15, the Renault Fuego down 30% to #17 and the Talbot Solara up one spot to #18.

* See the Top 15 best-selling models by clicking on ‘Read more’ at end of post! *

Helped by a facelift in 1979, the Ford Cortina leads the British car market in 1980 with 190,281 sales and in 1981 with 159,804. Ford monopolises the podium both years with the Escort #2 at 122,357 units then 141,081, and the Fiesta #3 with 91,661 sales in 1980 and 110,753 in 1981.

Ford Fiesta

Austin Metro

Launched in 1980 as the miniMetro to give the Mini a big brother, the Austin Metro ranks 4th for its first full year of sales in 1981 with 110,283 sales, better than any Mini year since 1965… The Morris Marina is replaced by the Ital over the period, #5 in 1981. The best selling foreign model is the Renault 18 in 1980 (#10) and the Datsun Cherry in 1981 at a fantastic 8th place, the highest rank ever for a Japanese model.

* See the Top 20 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Many thanks to Rene *

The start of the eighties in Finland is marked by a strong Russian influence, with the Lada 2105 the best-selling model in the country in 1981 with 9,322 sales. The Datsun Cherry is not far behind in second place at 8,803 units while the Fiat 127 rounds up the podium with 5,064 sales.

Talbot Horizon

There are 3 Japanese models in the Top 5 this year with the Toyota Corolla ranking #4 followed by the Datsun Sunny. Notice the Saab 99 at #8, the Talbot Horizon at #9 and the Volvo 240 at #10. Further down, the Skoda 105-120 ranks 13th, the Mazda 323 is #15 and the Talbot 1510/Solara is #16.

In 1981 and for the first time in almost 30 years, the best selling car in Brazil in not a Volkswagen… The title goes to the Fiat 147, helped by this year’s facelift. Quatro Rodas releases production figures and these are very close to sales figures as the Brazilian market is practically closed.

84,666 units of the Fiat 147 were produced over 11 months in 1981, compared to 71,733 units of the VW Fusca. The Chevrolet Chevette is also very strong at 56,484 units in 3rd position, followed by the VW Passat at 51,779 and the Ford Corcel at 49,886. The VW Gol, launched in 1980 and future king of the Brazilian market, is for now at a shy 6th place with only 30,627 units produced.

Chevrolet Chevette

Full Top 20 Ranking Table and more on the VW Gol’s initial launch in Brazil below.

6 years after it last lodged a #1 finish, the Fiat 128 gets boosted by its facelift and becomes the best-selling model in Argentina in 1981. This would be the last time at that level of the Fiat nameplate in this country.

* See the Top 10 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Thanks to Adam for the data *

The Chevrolet Chevette is the best-selling car in America this year with 346,307 units sold, down 7% on 1980. That would make the Chevette the last passenger car to dominate the models ranking in the USA. It is followed by the Chevrolet Citation, 1980’s #1, down 20% to 300,184 units.

Chevrolet Chevette

Excellent performance of the Ford Escort, landing directly in third position for its first full year of sales in the country with 284,907 units sold. But this year’s best performer is the VW Rabbit, up 59% and 6 spots on 1980 to a fantastic 4th place with 282,240 sales. Never before had an import reached such high levels in the US.

The Toyota Corolla is also on the up, to a best-ever 5th position, albeit with declining sales at 241,639 units (-6%). There are two other newcomers in the Top 10: the Buick Skylark at #8 with 200,350 sales and the Plymouth Reliant at #9 with 189,330 units.

* See the Commodore and Falcon production figures by clicking on the title! *

Holden launches the Commodore in November 1978 and installs the new nameplate at the #1 spot in the Australian market as soon as 1979. The Commodore will end up being Holden’s most popular nameplate by a country mile.

1979 Ford Falcon

Originally one full size smaller and less fuel-hungry than its competitor the Falcon, the Commodore rides on the 1979 energy crisis and stays best seller in Australia in 1980 and 1981 but will be passed by the Falcon in 1982.

* See the Top 10 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Many thanks to Andrea *

Italian consumers bought 1,739,282 new cars in 1981. The Fiat 127 is the best-selling model in the country but the fight with the Fiat Ritmo was intense. Only 0.7% market share separate the two models at year-end, with the 127 at 221,066 sales and 12.7% share compared to 208,713 and 12% for the Ritmo.

Fiat Ritmo

For its first full year of sales, the Fiat Panda brilliantly takes the 3rd spot at 174,917 units and 10.1% share. The Renault 5 is the best-selling foreign model in the country in 4th place with 80,903 sales and 4.7%, it is followed by the Fiat 131 at 77,823 units and 4.5% and the VW Golf with 70,600 sales and 4.1%.

All data tables automatically lock up seven days after publication. As a premium member you unlock absolutely all data tables for all 6,500 articles on the site, accessible by clicking on “Read more” at the bottom of each article.

Premium members have access to:
- All data tables of all articles on the site regardless of date of publication. This includes all Historical Data tables for over 100 markets spanning decades and, in the case of France, over 120 years of data.
- All Full Year Reports data tables - 134 markets were covered for 2014 and we are aiming at 150 for 2015. These are restricted to premium members on publication day and do not have a 7-day free access period.
- Complete exclusive data for markets such as the UK, Russia, Turkey, China imports, South Korea imports and South Africa. Exclusive articles do not have a 7-day free access period on BSCB either.